Book Review - The One You Cannot Have

Synopsis from the back cover :
How long does it take to heal a broken heart? Can you ever forget that one perfect relationship you had? Anjali knows who she wants, she wants Aman. Aman too knows who he wants, he wants Shruti. Shruti and Aman were once inseparable. Theirs was a love that would last forever and more. Then, out of the blue, Shruti left Aman. A devastated Aman moved abroad in the hope of forgetting Shruti and to heal. Shruti married Rishabh. Now Aman is back in India and looking for a fresh start. But he is still haunted by memories of his love. Can he ever break free from it? His head tells him to move on, to find love with Anjali, but his heart wont listen. No matter what he does, Shruti's shadow looms large. Can there be a happily-ever-after for any of them? A straight-from-the-heart modern-day romance of unrequited love, of complicated relationships and about moving on when you realise that there will always be the one you cannot have.

Why should you read the book : 
It explains the modern day relationships aptly : how 'letting go' and 'moving on' are easier said than done and redefines the meaning of happy endings. The characters resemble people we know. The best part of the book is it's narrative which changes in each chapter and yet manages to form a strong plot without confusing us.


My Rating :3.2/5

Book Review - The Tipping Point

"Look at the world around you. It may seem like an immovable, implacable place. It is not. With the slightest push - in just the right place - it can be tipped."

 How did Sesame Street become the most beloved T.V. program of its generation ?
 How did a social psycologist persuade a group of college senior students at Yale University to get a    tetanus shot ?
How have suicides tipped ?

The Tipping Point explains how certain ideas,  products and behaviours spread just like viruses do. How small things can make a big difference in these epidemics. Certain trends emerge - the transformation of unknown books into bestsellers, the rise of teenage smoking, the rise of Hush Puppies, the rise of crime in certain areas over a lapse of time and so on.

Malcom Gladwell explains the three laws governing the spread of these epidemics :-
1.The Law of the Few - There are three kinds of people responsible for spreading these epidemics -
    (a)The Connectors ,the people who have a strong network and know everyone.
    (b)The Mavens, the stores of information who like to be helpers in the marketplace.
    (c)The Salesmen are pros in the art of convincing people to buy a particular product.
2. The Stickiness Factor - There is a simple way to package information that under the right circumstances can make it irresistible .
 3.The Power Of Context says that human beings are a lot more sensitive to their environment than they seem.These three points form the framework of the book through which Gladwell cites fascinating examples.

He talks about the bystander problem which we experience in our daily life - when people are in a group, responsibility for acting is diffused. They assume that somebody else will make the call, or that because no one is acting, the apparent problem isn't really a problem.

Among the many interesting narratives, he talks about smoking -"Smoking was never cool .Smokers were cool." How things like genetic factors have an effect over one's smoking habits. He talks about parenting and how crime can be prevented in the first place.

This book is not only for the people opting for a marketing degree but for everyone.
My Rating :3.5/5

Book Review - Tuesdays with Morrie

Have you really had a teacher ? One who saw you as a raw but precious thing, a jewel that with wisdom could be polished to a proud shine ? If you are lucky enough to find your way back to teachers, you will always find your way back.Sometimes it is only in your head.Sometimes it is right alongside their bedside.

Morrie Schwartz has ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), an unforgiving illness of the neurological system which has no cure.The same disease that has reduced Stephen Hawking into a man frozen in his own flesh.Morrie does not have much time left and when his old student Mitch comes to know about it he goes to visit him.

The last class of his old professor's life took place once a week on Tuesdays, in his home, by a window in his study where he could watch a small hibiscus plant shed its pink flowers.The subject was meaning of life.He speaks about detachment beautifully-

"Take any emotion - love for a woman, or grief for a loved one, or what I'm going through- fear and pain from a deadly illness.If you hold back on the emotions- if you don't allow yourself to go all the way through them- you can never get to being detached, you're busy being afraid.You're afraid of the pain, you're afraid of the vulnerability that loving entails. "

About forgiveness he says - "Forgive yourself first before you die.Then forgive others. "

About Death he says - "Death ends a life, not a relationship."

The final class is the most touching class as Mitch hugs Morrie goodbye and you finally realise what it feels like to lose a loved one.

This is a beautiful book with simple explanations drawn from real life experiences.
My Rating : 4/5

 

The Ugly Duckling

So I came across this column in Page 3 of Bombay Times of a seminar conducted by IITian's Pace ( a top-notch JEE coaching institute in Mumbai) for all the JEE aspirants. It was held in a 5 star hotel in which Sudhir Mishra was the guest speaker along with others .Now I wonder what he has to do with the IITs except for his partial resemblance to Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.
The speakers were going to talk about what sets apart the WINNERS from the LOSERS.Now the winners(let's call them the swans) being the 10,000 odd students who get admission into the prestigious institutions and the losers(let's call them the ugly ducklings) being the other 4,90,000 students who don't crack the exam.
Dear Elders (Indian Education System and the coaching classes) ,this is very demotivating for the rest of the aspirants who did not clear this exam.The ducklings toiled for the exam too ,but since they did not clear it they go into depression (peer pressure leading to this 'D' word) . The ducklings too have worked hard and sacrificed almost everything for this mammoth exam. Many ducklings even contemplate suicide after not being able to turn into the beautiful swan. The prime strain that the ducklings go through is that they will be called a Failure or Coward by the society.
Anyways not everyone can have an IITian future but nevertheless a normal existence can be led by these ducklings (so they in their own time can transform into swans) ,so I request you not to tag them as LOSERS.Who am I to say all this ?Well, just another loser.





(The above written blog is in no offense to IITians,I have immense respect for you all)

The Kite Runner Revisited :)

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini has been a very special book for me. Its the story about two boys - Amir and Hassan. Amir is the wealthy merchant's son whereas Hassan is the servant's son.
Although everything about this book has moved me, the following are a select few quotes followed by a poem which I would like to share :-

• For you, a thousand times over .

• It always hurts more to have and lose than to not have in the first place.          

    

• There is a way to be good again .

•   People say that eyes are windows to the soul.    

•   The desert weed lives on, but the flower of spring blooms and wilts.

         Who are we in this complicated world ? 

                                                                   -Rumi ( attached video) 

Converting potential to kinetic.

Months back we had to fill forms stating our city preferences for a software company where we would like to work. My preferences were these :-
1. Mumbai (as I live here,of course)
2.Pune
3.Delhi.
The third option was written as an act of innocence as I wanted to live in the nation's capital. This particular act of mine stirred a very sharp reaction from my dad. He said ,"Tanvi,if you get Delhi, you might as well say goodbye to your job. There's no way I am allowing you to go there". I was angry at him for being so overprotective. I wasn't a kid anymore. But today, I totally get him. Never again will I think of living in Delhi.

Today,as Nirbhaya, the girl who was brutally gang-raped,tortured and mutilated is announced dead, I have the following set of reactions :-

• All sorts of cuss-words for the rapists.
• Their body parts should be chopped of. She didn't get a peaceful death, why should they ?
• Anger at the government as there definitely was a cover-up. If she needed better care why not give it to her at the initial stages ?

One of my fellow classmates, whose dad is in the police said, "If you feel so much about it, why don't you join the IAS and become the next Kiran Bedi ?". My question is can't I do anything as a common girl who isn't in the system. Its not about getting my hands dirty. 

As a student I think I could do my bit by praying for her and her family, raising my voice against what has occurred, participating in the silent marches of protests, educating the poor so that they don't turn into rapists.

Is there any other way? I ask you all . This is the time for action.